


a thousand songs

by tospreadthewingsofthesoul



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: 100 words each, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Courting Rituals, Drabbles, Friends to Lovers, Hanahaki Disease, Jaskier invents Bardic Colleges, M/M, Modern AU, Pining, Scars, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Soulmates sharing injuries, Sugar Baby, Sugar Daddy, all of Jaskier's songs are for Geralt, no one dies on screen I promise, potentially
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22484851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tospreadthewingsofthesoul/pseuds/tospreadthewingsofthesoul
Summary: Jaskier writes a thousand songs. More. Over a thousand lifetimes, in a thousand different realities, he writes songs.They are all for Geralt.Or, a series of drabbles, prompts and what-ifs. Full fics may be written for some or all, depending on response.1. Hanahaki Disease2. Too Late3. The Gift that Keeps Giving4. Fame is Fickle5. Wake the White Wolf6. Gradual7. Soulmates8. Modern AU9. Courting10. Scars11. Soulmates II12. Sugar Baby
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 32
Kudos: 250





	1. Hanahaki Disease

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all!  
> I said I didn't have time to write Witcher fic. 
> 
> I am a filthy liar.
> 
> But! I definitely don't have time to write every single fic idea I have for these fools, so I'm doing this instead. Old-school drabbles, each exactly 100 words (I hope). If you like a particular idea, leave me a comment so that I know! I will almost for sure be writing full-length fic of some of these, but only the ones that people like.
> 
> First up: Hanahaki Disease

Witchers don’t get sick. They can be poisoned, killed, corrupted by blood and rot. But they don’t catch fevers, don’t have to worry about head colds or rolling stomachs.

So the first cough sends Geralt straight to Yennefer.

It takes him weeks to chase her down, and by then, the cough has… progressed. It had been a wet hacking thing at first, making him cough so hard he retched up phlegm. Then it was tiny, delicate yellow petals. Then it was entire flower heads.

Dandelions.

When Yennefer sees, she doesn’t do anything except shake her head. He knows it’s pity.


	2. Too Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I heard that you like all dialogue? I think I heard that?

“How long?”

“How long what, Geralt? Fun tip: try more than a single pair of words!”

“How long have you been in love with me.”

“Oh. Ah. Did you just learn this? Honestly, what a boring question. Yes, alright. Since the moment I saw you, brooding in that inn.”

“I don’t-”

“A better question would be, how long since I’ve been not in love with you.”

“How long.”

“Nearly a decade. Hard to measure precisely. Less ‘fall of a city’ and more ‘long thaw into spring.’ Oh, don’t be dramatic. I still love you. But I got tired of pining.”


	3. The Gift that Keeps Giving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaskier's got contingency plans, y'all.

Jaskier was proving an inconvenience even in death. He’d left Geralt a letter.

What had at first appeared to be a simple and heartfelt goodbye had turned out to be so full of code and intrigue that Geralt had found himself chasing geese all over the continent for nearly a full decade. He was also fairly certain that more than one person who had that old age had cheated them out of their chance to kill the bard himself had decided that Geralt would do to fill his place.

Even as he cut those men down, Geralt smiled fondly.

_Fool._


	4. Fame is Fickle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaskier eventually becomes more famous than Geralt.

It still caught him by surprise, sometimes.

Jaskier’s songs had long outlived him. A century after his death, and Geralt was still greeted by ‘Toss a Coin to Your Witcher.’ Some of the lyrics had changed. The melody too, a little. He hated that, knew how offended Jaskier would have been by it. 

Eventually, over time, people became more interested in what Geralt had known of Jaskier than in what Jaskier had known of Geralt. They asked him questions about his life, his music, his home and his lovers.

Geralt was surprised to find that he had very few answers.


	5. Wake the White Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaskier founded the most prestigious of Bardic Colleges in all the land (fight me) and he left some instructions.
> 
> Inspired by Wake the White Wolf, by the Miracle of Sound. I know it's already got a spot in the soundtrack of Witcher 3, I know. But this idea would NOT leave me alone.

The dean stood before the newest class of journeyman, and read the ancient, yellowed letter.

“A day may come when you need a Wolf to save you, when he will need reminding who he is. I will no longer be there to do it myself, so I’ve left you this. 

This song is the only true secret I ever kept. I’d not share it at all, but there’s no way of knowing who will survive to sing it. So teach it to everyone you can trust.

When you need the wolf to save you, sing this song.

He’ll remember.

-Jaskier.”


	6. Gradual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something where Jaskier is actually still alive??

They fell into things so gradually that it wasn’t until Geralt had Jaskier sprawled in bed, face-down so that he could suck a line of bruises down Jaskier’s spine, that he Geralt realized he had no idea what they were actually doing.

Geralt slowed, and Jaskier voiced his protests. Geralt returned to his ministrations, Jaskier warm and soft under his hands. He wasn’t in the habit of leaving his bed-partners dissatisfied. After so many years, it was nearly a comfort, how well he knew how to satisfy his bard.

There would be plenty of time for questions in the morning.


	7. Soulmates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Credit for idea this one goes to mizimeluh on Tumblr. Bless you. Look what you’ve done.

Jaskier knew, objectively that plenty of people hated their soulmarks. People said hateful things all the time, and who would know better how to shatter a person apart than their soulmate. 

Still. Being objective wasn’t one of Jaskier’s strong suites. 

So Jaskier kept his soulmate hidden away, told destiny to fuck off, and attached himself to a passing Witcher. 

Thirty years, and Jaskier was certain he’d outrun the words scrawled across his hip. Then. 

“If life could give me one blessing, it would be to take you off my hands!”

The irony was not lost on Jaskier. 

Fucking soulmates.


	8. Modern AU

The conservatory offered Jaskier an adjunct position after he finished his Master’s degree.

Jaskier declined.

The dean shook his head disapprovingly, as tabloids reported scandal after scandal, always featuring that damned Witcher and his damned motorcycle. Jaskier didn’t even try to hide that every album he released was for that particularly disreputable muse.

Jaskier’s advisor, though, grinned fierce and proud, with every single song of Jaskier’s that hit the charts. He was creating a whole new genre of music.

_All he’d needed was a little adventure._

_And_ , she supposed after he released another achingly beautiful love song, _the right muse._


	9. Courting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Witchers for sure have obscure courting customs, right? Does it matter that apparently women can't be Witchers? Sure doesn't.

Geralt had never thought to need the old Witcher courting customs, but he’s glad now to know them. 

He starts by commissioning a weapon; formal perhaps, but the dagger was well-suited to Jaskier’s elegant hands.

Jaskier accepted it with a startled joy, but nothing else. It wasn’t a rejection, nor outright acceptance. So Geralt pressed on.

He began splitting his contracts with Jaskier, the coin at least, if not the hunt. Jaskier accepted this as his due. He seemed disinclined to give Geralt any indication of how his suit was being received.

Well, Geralt would just have to get creative.


	10. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaskier has never asked about Geralt's scars.

Yennefer made a point of not asking about his scars. It had been so striking, at the time. There wasn't a person who saw him didn't wonder.

Jaskier simply never mentioned it, and it was a nearly decade before Geralt noticed. Jaskier demanded every story Geralt had to give, every detail he could summon on monsters and swords, distant mountains and vast oceans. But never once did he ask about a single one of Geralt's scars.

It took years for Geralt to finally ask why. Jaskier startled. He shrugged.

"It's not my right. I tell your stories, not your secrets."


	11. Soulmates II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soulmate AU where soulmates share injuries. Because. Oof.

Most people counted the pain as a gift. It was a way to know when your soulmate was safe, when to go running.

Jaskier had never known anything else. The first scar had blossomed across his back when he was an infant, barely days old. He was lucky that no soul-mark could be lethal, or he'd never have survived his first year. Lucky, that he had grown up with the pain, or else it would be debilitating.

Still, every bruise and cut was as much relief as pain, because it meant that wherever his soulmate was, they were still alive.


	12. Sugar Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This situation is 100% Yennefer's fault. I don't know how, exactly, but I'm sure that it is.

Jaskier balanced a bowl of cereal in one hand and his phone in the other, swiping through profiles while simultaneously shoving his feet into his shoes. He’d already been up for ten minutes and he was already late for class.

“Too old, too old, too… what the fuck?” he muttered to himself.

Jaskier had to admit that SugarBabies.com was not the most practical idea he’d ever had. Turns out most people willing to foot the bill for university were either old, creepy, or some mixture of both. Just one more, as he walked into class.

**Geralt, 35, 6 miles away.**

_Hmmmm._


End file.
